Pick-up crane vs engine hoist
Updated: 22 October 2026
You need an engine moved, and two different machines appear in the same search: a jib bolted in the load bed and a folding shop crane on castors. They share winches and hooks in the pictures, yet they stand in different places and reach different spaces. The [pick-up crane comparison](/hub/lifting-equipment/pick-up-crane) assumes you are shopping bed jibs. This page helps you choose between that jib and a workshop engine hoist. Peter F. read the bed-jib listings on 20 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You need an engine moved, and two different machines appear in the same search: a jib bolted in the load bed and a folding shop crane on castors.
You need an engine moved, and two different machines appear in the same search: a jib bolted in the load bed and a folding shop crane on castors. They share winches and hooks in the pictures, yet they stand in different places and reach different spaces. The pick-up crane comparison assumes you are shopping bed jibs. This page helps you choose between that jib and a workshop engine hoist. Peter F. read the bed-jib listings on 20 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Crane type | Stated crane figure | Boom adjusts | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Pismire Pismire 1,100 lb crane and 3,500 lb winch | Folding truck-bed jib sold with a 12 V winch | 1,100 lb in the title. No chart by boom position. | 46.06–57.09 in | 8.8 | about £1,013.25 | View offer |
| Best value |  Generic Generic 12 V pick-up crane RSWTC87 | 12 V electric pickup truck crane | n/a | 110–150 cm telescopic jib | 5.6 | about £328.61 | View offer |
| Alternative |  DEFNES DEFNES truck bed crane | Bed jib with a 12 V winch named in the title | Title prints 7,000 lb and 5,000 lb; a bullet repeats 7,000 lb at maximum height. No chart. | 47.24–66.93 in, three positions | 4.1 | about £968.99 | View offer |
On this page
Two cranes that get confused
A pick-up crane lives on the vehicle. The column rotates over the bed rails, the boom picks up beside or behind the truck, and the load finishes on the bed or tailgate. Once mounted, it travels with you, so plate weight matters on the road.
A folding engine hoist rolls on castors. Its legs straddle a bay or sit beside a car on axle stands. Hook height comes from pins on the hoist, not from a bed sidewall. When the engine clears the bay, you lower it onto a stand or blocks and move the hoist away. Bed jibs are vehicle-mounted loaders, not garage extractors.
A bullet that says engines on a bed jib is easy to misread. Pismire names generators, engines and compressors into or out of the truck bed. That is transport loading, not a pull up through a wheel arch while the car stays on the driveway.
Height and where the engine has to go
Hook height on a listing is not reach into someone else's engine bay. It is the distance from the mount to the hook at one boom setting, before rigging eats more height.
Pismire lists hook settings roughly between 1.15 and 2.20 m, and it is the only row that both names engines in the bed and prints a 1,100 lb crane figure separate from the winch. DEFNES reaches about 2.20 m. The Generic row lists bracket height 105 to 210 cm. VACARX prints 160 cm to the bottom of the hook and 215 cm total height. Those are listing geometry, not extra reach into a bay.
Usable height is obstacle height plus rigging slack. A bonnet, a firewall and a shallow sling angle can block a lift that looks tall enough on paper. A bed jib cannot roll its legs under a car. A shallow sling also loads the hook harder than the block's weight, so winch pull is not engine weight allowed.
When the pick-up crane is the right tool
Choose the bed jib when the load starts on the ground beside or behind your truck and finishes in the bed, and the printed crane figure covers the mass plus rigging. Yard examples are a generator, a compressor, a log bundle, or an engine already on a pallet.
Pismire is the only kept listing that pairs an engines-in-the-bed bullet with a separated 1,100 lb crane line. Plan to that figure, about 499 kg for your notes, not to the 3,500 lb winch line. Mount into the chassis and keep the first lift light if there is no chart. How those two numbers differ is on pick-up crane capacity.
Skip the bed jib when the car stays put and the engine must rise through a confined bay, when you need the block hanging for days, or when none of the four listings gives a capacity you trust.
When to take the engine hoist instead
Take the folding engine hoist when you can roll the legs to the vehicle, hook height and leg clearance match the bay, and you have floor space to lower the block onto a stand. The hoist is wrong if the crane must stay on the truck. The jib is wrong if the vehicle cannot move under the boom.
A gantry is the third machine when the bonnet is long or the legs cannot straddle the workspace. You do not need to spec one here. You only need to see when castors under a car are impossible.
After the engine is out, neither machine holds the block for a rebuild. An engine stand or a cradle takes over. If loading the bed is still the job, return to the comparison. If this is a garage pull, look at an engine-hoist comparison rather than forcing a bed jib into a bay it cannot reach.
Common questions
Can a pick-up crane pull an engine in the garage?
Not in the usual sense. It is mounted on your truck and suited to loading your bed, not extracting an engine from a static car bay.
Can it lift an engine into the bed?
Yes, that is the designed use when capacity and mount are sound. Pismire's bullet describes that scenario with a 1,100 lb crane line in the capture.
Which reach matters, boom length or hook height?
Both, plus where the column sits relative to the load. Height on the listing is not horizontal reach into another vehicle's engine bay.
What does a folding engine hoist do that a bed jib does not?
It rolls under a car in a workshop and lifts there. It does not travel as your load-bed loader.
Where do I put the engine once it is out?
On a stand, cradle, or blocks. The hoist moves the weight. It is not long-term storage.
Is 1,100 lb enough for a typical engine?
It depends on the engine and the rigging. The listing prints 1,100 lb as the crane figure. You must add rigging mass and confirm with the seller if there is no chart. Do not infer typical weights from this page.
Do I still need an engine stand?
For work on the block after the move, yes. The crane or hoist only handles the lift.
When is a gantry the third option?
When legs cannot straddle the car, the bonnet line is long, or the vehicle layout blocks a shop hoist. Hire or buy a gantry-class machine instead of stretching a bed jib.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these four listings were scored on 20 October 2026. Page updated October 2026.
- HSE: LOLER overview (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: LOLER regulation 7 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: thorough examinations of lifting equipment (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: working under vehicles (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: safe lifting by machine (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: PUWER overview (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Vestil: truck jib cranes (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listings B0899QCBP7, B0HJK8VZ9W, B0C58W2GK8 and B0GL25GG29 (retrieved 20 October 2026)